Zuni Cafe Cookbook: Stocks/ Dishes to Start a Meal

January 2007 Cookbook of the Month: the Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers and Gerald Asher. Please post your full-length reviews of recipes from the sections on stocks and on dishes to start a meal here. Please mention the name of the recipe you are reviewing as well as any modifications you made to the recipe.

A reminder that the verbatim copying of recipes to the boards is violation of the copyright of the original author. Posts with copied recipes will be removed.

These were awesome! The flavors all worked well together. And, five of us polished off about 25 of these mini sandwiches within a few minutes. I slightly undercooked some of the gougeres. I had some slight technical difficulties when I scooped them on to the paper. I thought some were too close together so I tried to move them over. When they baked, they spread v. puffing up. But, I didn't care because they were still tasty.

I haven't made these this month (though I did make the gougeres Christmas eve) but I should say that this is my go-to recipe for gougeres. I like how detailed the directions are (about the egg being difficult to incorporate) because it might seem impossible if you're making these for the first time, but it's important to soldier on! They take a lot of arm muscle, though.

I also make the Carol's pickled onions and keep a jar in the fridge. They're great on sandwiches or with roasted or grilled meats.

I agree with you on the directions. This was my first time at making gougeres and I was very happy with the details. If I hadn't known how difficult it would be to incorporate the eggs, I probably would have not mixed it enough. Instead, I could visualize what the finished dough would look like. Very little moments of doubt during the actual mixing. My shoulder did hurt though...

I was considering making them in advance and then reheating. Any guesses on how long they would keep in the fridge or whether I should instead freeze them? also, anyone try recrisping? i would hate to do all that work only to find that they are not nearly as good as they could be because i did not serve them fresh.

The little suckers are strangely addicting. I think I had at least 4 little sandwiches and bits and numerous pieces of the reject bread shells (the ones that I mangled because they were too flat). They smelled great and they were so warm and comforting.

Mind you, I'm not encouraging my gluttony on to anyone else. But strange things happen when warm cheesy bread comes out of the oven ;-)

I would love to know how they freeze. I wonder if I can freeze raw little pieces of dough. That would be the safest for me.

You get the idea. It cuts through rich food like nobody's business and is outrageously delicious. The basic receipe that she gives is good and I like to do some of the additions like avocado or hard boiled egg. The basic herb mix that I use is parsley (of course) and basil.

I made the Onion Marmalade that was intended to be eaten on crostini. It's delicious. I have actually forgotten what I made it initially to go with, but with the leftovers I topped seared medallions of venison. Nice.

I wanted to make this before but never had really fresh favas. Well, some came in the CSA so I popped over to my local cheese store for the manchego and salami. Let's just say, I wish I hadn't waited so long to make this dish. It was delicious and there just wasn't enough for C and me.

Other than peeling the pods and skins, this was an extremely easy recipe to make. Unfortunately, I only had about a lb of favas so I made have the amount. Add some olive oil to the favas to coat, then add the mint leaves, salt and pepper, salami and cheese. You can also add in lemon juice but I forgot.

The raw favas (picked the day before) were wonderful with both the salami and mint. I could have added a bit more cheese but I was saving the cheese for a different purpose. We ate this with roasted beets, a huge salad and bread. Both of us were purposely avoiding this salad to try and make it last longer.

It’s Spring! Well, actually, it’s still chilly and fairly nasty, but I just picked up the first favas of the season so it was spring on my plate at least. Since the recipe calls for so little salami and cheese (only about 2 ounces of each), I went all out and bought a Fra’ Mani salami and a pricey aged Tuscan pecorino, a recommended substitute for the Manchego. Used only one instead of the three tablespoons of olive oil called for and it was plenty. This might serve four as a starter, but I made the full recipe (may have been a bit short on the favas, but not much) for myself and called it dinner. And a damned fine dinner it was, too.

You betcha, baby. I never--ever--watch TV during the day. But peeling favas made me succumb. Not only do they need to be double peeled (without parboiling, mind you, which I think makes it a bit easier), the peeled favas then need to be split in half. Totally worth it.

Hey! I have an idea. Maybe I could hire myself out as a fava peeler. Two hour minimum @ $25/hr. Think I could sell that?

Thanks to JoanN for mentioning this dish in our current Mario COTM thread. I knew if there was a way to have my husband enjoy fava beans, the recipe would include salami. We made this with manchego cheese. We grilled some bread and put this lovely mixture on top. Truly delicious.

Dredging up this old thread to give another shout out to this dish. Double peeling the favas is a major pia. But, darn, it is so worth it. Peeling is less painful when you watch tv while doing it.

For the salami and cheese, I used a rosette do lyon and a pecorino caggiano. I think the pecorino goes better then the manchego. Unfortunately, no leftover fava bean salad, but I do have a little bit of salami and cheese. I served this with a fennel and romaine lettuce salad and we shared a steak. A lovely summer meal.

As I re-read my post, I saw that I forgot to add the lemon juice back in 2008. Guess what I forgot to do in 2012? I didn't miss the lemon juice at all.

I used the recipe as an inspiration and I loved the simplicity and combination of flavors. I had some fava bean pods I forgot about (what?!) and used what I had in the fridge so didn't pay attention to ratios. I peeled the fava beans, and plated them with sliced peppercorn-crusted salami from the deli counter and shavings of Idiazabal cheese. I just squeezed some lemon juice over and sprinkled with freshly cracked pepper and Murray River sea salt. Delicious combination! I can't imagine how good it's going to be with fresher favas and the other ingredients called for in the recipe.